It’s the perfect storm, a black cloud of ducks are circling into your spread and like usual that one or two ducks are coming down and landing on the water before the rest. I know what you are thinking. That’s great! They are committing! But before the rest of the ducks have the chance to cup up in front of you, your dog breaks and spooks them and they flare away. I don’t know about you but nothing is more aggravating to me than when a dog breaks and scares away the ducks.

Steady to shot is pretty much duck dog basics 101. I don’t mean your basic commands like sit, come, lie down and stay. If your dog does not know those commands you might want to consider leaving your pup at home next hunting trip. There are only two I am really concerned about when I am taking my pup on a hunt and that is place and they do not break or some may call it steady to shot. In my opinion a dog breaking is an inexcusable offense in a duck hunting dog and if not it should be!

Steady to shot is a very important aspect in a hunting dog. Because you won’t have to deal with your pup leaving the blind at inappropriate times or getting to excited and running into someone when they are taking shot or running all over the place looking for a bird when you missed, instead you can just tell him or her no bird. (Side note, I am just going to use her or she from now on because my dog is a girl.) You don’t have to use a gun or a starter pistol when you’re training your dog. It’s just not practical for some people due to the location they live at. You can start in your backyard with your dog sitting next to you on a leash or a lead rope in your hand and a bumper. You tell her to stay and you throw the bumper. If she breaks you pull her back to the spot she was sitting wait a few seconds then you can command her to go get the bumper. I just use her name for the command and let go of the lead rope. When they begin to stay you can start to test them by making different noises, making sudden movements and saying different words beside for the command you use. After she is not breaking from these steps you can start introducing guns into the mix.

Your dog knowing how to place is a handy tool to have when you are on a hunt. No matter if you are in a make shift blind next to a pond or out in a layout blind in the middle of a field. You will never have to worry about your dog being out of place when she knows how to place. You can start in your house with a dog bed or you can go ahead and start out side. You can use a small platform if you want or you can do what I do and use a mat. All that matters is that they get the idea. Start about three feet away. Have her on a leash and tell her to place, then point at the mat and lead her to it. When she gets to the mat tell her to sit and then reward her with either your praise or a treat. After a couple of sessions you dog should catch on. Then you can increase the distance.

Once you have these two down you can combined them and when you tell her to place you can teach her not to move from that spot till you say it’s ok. Place will come in handy and you won’t have to worry about your dog being in the wrong spot in or outside the blind and you can also use it in the field when you want them to get in their dog blind. Also you will not have to worry about them making the wrong move and scaring your birds. After all that work you should have a well disciplined hunting dog and on next season’s hunting trip your buddies can brag on her and you for how well trained and behaved your dog is.

Phil Robertson, founder and star of A&E’s most popular reality TV Show talks about his life’s journey. From sex, drugs and Rock and Roll to a multimillionaire duck hunter. Happy, Happy, Happy is a reference to Thomas Jefferson – “All men are created equal….life, liberty and the pursuit of HAPPINESS.”

As the nation starts to welcome Phil into their lives by watching Duck Dynasty, many of duck hunters know what the Duck Commander believes in but his new book is a no-hold, tell-all bio. In his book he says, “Faith, Family and Ducks in that order..”. There is no question to that as each show comes to an end, the family sits at a large table, bowing their heads to pray and eat their harvested ducks during the waterfowl season.

Phil talks more about what started his repentance and how it came about. In a video interview with Lifeway Christian Store he says, “When I was 28, some guy with a Bible came in a beer joint that I was running, and he wanted to talk it over. So I basically ran him out of the place. My sister is the one that brought him and while he was at the back trying to get a bible study going with the old guy here- yours truly, my sister was up at the front handing out bible tracks. So that created a little bit of a ruckus. So I ran the guy off. But later on I looked him back up.” “So at 28, I finally sat down and listened for the first time in my life to the story of Jesus of Galilee…”

Phil’s great story tells us how he had a promising career in football but followed a calling from God. Soon after, he invented a duck call that would begin an incredible journey to the life he had always dreamed of for himself and his family. With great love for his country, his family, and his maker, Phil has finally found the ingredients to the “happy life”.

It’s a cold, dark, quiet and calm morning before the sun starts to rise. The weatherman said to expect a 15-20 mph South wind. While sitting in the blind after setting out a small spread, we start to hear that infamous sound of getting “buzzed” by some Teal. The anticipation was almost at its capacity as shooting time started. Only to discover the birds had left and there is no wind. Not the best start for a hunt!

I’ve been there perhaps too many times. The birds that had been there before we arrived are now gone and there is no wind to help bring in the birds into the spread. We start hitting our feeding and social calls and it doesn’t take long till we start seeing a couple Mallards flying directly over our spread. Before we even raise our guns, they flare and are in another county. At this point we are determined to make this morning successful.

Our Mojos are out there, teal and mallard, but we are in need of some water-level movement. If any ducks fly over because they heard someone feeding and all they see is 8-9 decoys sitting still, they aren’t going to want anything to do with us. So we take our handmade, inexpensive jerk line and strategically place it in water. Now, we already have several decoys out and adding our jerk line to the mix adds three more. Depending on what you found when you were scouting, adjust the number of decoys.

A jerk line can be made with just a couple decoys, string or thin rope, a bungee cord, stake or anchor and a lead spool of line. As pictured below, you have your “anchor”, bungee cord/rope, decoy string to your decoys using snap swivels, then your spool. I will sometimes switch out one of the three decoys with a feeder using those snap swivels. This helps to adjust when you are having a slow morning and birds are not committing Once you learn how to make one, the sky is the limit when it comes to making it to your preference.

Now, giving life to your new jerk line if fairly easy. With the anchor or stake placed in the water, string the decoys back towards your blind and begin giving them a few short-quick jerks. This causes ripples around each decoy mimicking live moment. These short-quick jerks are great when you see birds coming in, have just passed by or even geese that are flying a little high. You simply want to make your spread inviting with this movement. Have fun and happy hunting to ya!

We’ve all been there. The scouting trip from the previous evening had pinpointed that perfect public land spot. The birds had poured in, the cover was thick enough to hide in and the wind was forecast to be perfect. Early the next morning you make the trek back to the spot, hopes high and spirits soaring with the promise of the high paced shooting to come. Then you see it, the tiny pinpoint beam of headlights in the distance that lets you know someone else had marked the spot as well. Or even worse, you get there and place your decoys, build your makeshift blind and hunker down to wait for shooting light only to watch someone come in and set up on top of you, ruining both your chances for a good hunt.

Photo courtesy of B. Pendley

Or maybe you have had the spot mostly to yourself for a while now. Several good hunts have resulted and it has been a pretty spectacular season so far. But lately the ducks are shy, flaring farther and farther out and refusing to work. No amount of added decoys or pleading calls can coax the fowl into shooting range. It is clearly time to make a change.

Photo courtesy of B. Pendley

It’s time to make a move. Hang up the decoy bags and break out the maps. Downsizing the water you hunt and the equipment you use can be just the ticket this time of year. Follow these simple steps to get back on the ducks.

Internet scouting can work: No, I am not talking about scanning the forums for grip and grin photos of successful hunts then paylaking their spots. Instead, pull up your hunting area on Google Earth or Wikimapia.org. Can’t get good images of your spot? Pick up a good old fashioned topo map of the area. Think back to previous hunts and scouting trips in the area. What flight path did most of the birds use? Check that area for smaller ponds and creeks away from the road. Keep an eye out for hardwood timber areas where beavers might have dammed a creek and flooded a section. Moving water can be particularly productive in the late season when standing water has locked up with ice.

Hang up the decoy bags: When you find a hot spot on small water, a half dozen decoys is more than enough spread to attract attention. To make up for the small number of decoys, run at least two of the six rigged as a jerk string. Ducks can pick up on the movement from remarkable distances as they fly over. Since you don’t need a lot of decoys, make the ones you do use the most lifelike available. As the birds make their fly overs, they will have time to check out each and every deke, make sure they pass inspection.

Leave the waders at home: I like a good pair of hip boots for small water hunting. To get away from high pressured public areas often requires one heck of a hike. Chest waders will wear you down in hurry. Most small waters are wade-able with hip or even knee boots. If you do find a deeper spot, pack your chest waders in a backpack and put them on when you get to your destination.

And keep the calls in your pocket: Well, not really, but tone your calling WAY down. High pressured birds have been hit with more highballs, feed chuckles and pleading comebacks than a contest judge in Stuttgart. Once the birds start to work, stick mainly with quiet chuckles and quacks. Throw in a drake call or two or mix things up with gadwall, pintail or wood duck calls to give the birds something they haven’t heard. When the birds are in range, take the shot. Wary birds over small water are hard to land. They might not make that extra pass either. Don’t pass a shot when you have it, you might not get another chance.

Next season, when the birds get shy and the crowds get thick, put these small water, low pressure tactics to work. The shooting might not be as hot and heavy as an open water blind with fresh birds, but it beats the heck out of sitting all day without picking up your gun.

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The Service has proposed changes to the regulations that govern approvals of nontoxic shot and coatings for use in waterfowl hunting. The regulations are in need of updating to address questions regularly raised by companies that apply for nontoxic shot or nontoxic coating approvals to provide for withdrawal of alloys that law enforcement officers cannot distinguish from lead shot in the field.